Phil Gianficaro
General Assignment ReporterA native of northeastern Pennsylvania, I've been a journalist for more than four decades. I've reported on events like the pope's visit and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, local appearances by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, covered the Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Eagles in the playoffs. However, the stories that have touched me most involve ordinary folks in our community. A 12-year-old boy getting the better of cancer; Holocaust survivors sharing horror stories they know the world needs to hear again and again; a little girl from Bucks County who grew up to become Miss America. These are the stories I'm committed to finding and sharing with our readers. About me: Married with a son and a daughter in college. Golf when I can. Morning coffee's a must; Favorite quote from my late mother: "There are givers and takers in this world, which do you want to be?" Contact me at PhilG@lehighvalleynews.com or 267-222-0540.
-
Whitehall Township treasurer/tax collector Tina Koren is asking the Lehigh County Court to reject Commissioner Thomas Slonaker's nominating petition for her job. -
Whitehall Township commissioner Republican candidate LoriAnn Fehnel filed a challenge March 14 against fellow Republican candidate Betsey H. Charles, 3212 Chestnut St., based on deficiencies on the latter’s petition.
-
Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners have until March 29 to fill the vacancy and will conduct public interviews with candidates on Monday starting at 6 p.m.
-
Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th District, was a member of a panel discussion about the home health care crisis. Advocates are urging lawmakers to increase reimbursement fees to home care agencies.
-
Lehigh Valley native Danielle Meyers, 22, is among 190 million women worldwide with endometriosis, a chronic, incurable tissue abnormality that causes a host of painful internal problems.
-
Enci “Aubrey” Wu was last seen on Jan. 11 in the vicinity of MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township, where she was seeking transportation and/or funds from strangers in order to leave Lehigh County, according to the release.
-
The project, named Emerson Village, calls for the construction of 57 townhomes and 59 single-unit homes on 35 acres at 3626 Rural Road.
-
A panel discussion of female achievers from the Lehigh Valley was held in observance of International Women's Day at Renaissance Allentown Hotel.
-
New South Whitehall Township Chief of Police Frank J.C. Lombardo, a former captain with the South Brunswick, New Jersey, Township Police Department, possesses decades of experience in law enforcement.
-
The contract extension makes Barkley, the former Whitehall High School star, the highest-paid running back in NFL history.
-
A Veterans Day panel discussion was held at ArtsQuest Center on Friday night. Among the four panelists was Artimus Pyle, former drummer for the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd who served with the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
-
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce annual meeting attracted about 1,000 at Wind Creek Event Center Thursday afternoon.The event brought together members of the business community — colleagues, customers and competitors — to celebrate their collective mission of making the region a better place to work and live.
-
Brian C. McGoldrick, 42, of Glenside, on Tuesday received a sentence of 5-to-19 years in state prison in the death of Catherine Ann Neelon in a September 2022 head-on collision.
-
Hundreds visited Holy Infancy Church in South Bethlehem on Tuesday to pay homage to the relic of St. Jude, which is making a North American tour. The Apostle’s arm was removed from a tomb at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome years ago and bone fragments were placed in a wood reliquary carved in the shape of an arm imparting a blessing.
-
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, hosted a roundtable discussion on the child care crisis at Bethlehem YMCA on Tuesday.
-
After 40 years with the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown, CEO Deb Fries-Jackson is retiring. The Allentown native and former school teacher was instrumental in the merger of the local Girls Club and Boys Club in 2002.
-
The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office on Monday announced the recovery of more than $115,000 to a Salisbury Township man who was scammed during an online real estate transaction earlier this year.
-
When word went out from a Bethlehem church ministry that it needed a clothes dryer for its pay-as-you-can community cafe, its prayers were answered by the generosity of a fellow city church.
-
The Allentown School District held Unity Day events at its 15 elementary schools on Wednesday. The message at each focused on bullying prevention, as October is National Bullying Prevention Month.
-
Several sightings of black bears have been reported recently in residential areas of Bethlehem Township. Despite the animal not typically being aggressive toward humans, the Pennsylvania Game Commission advises not to approach or entice a black bear.
-
A rare piebald deer, which has a distinctive white coat with patchy brown spots due to a pigmentation anomaly, has been seen in the Easton Cemetery. Such deer make up about 1% of the total whitetail deer population.
-
Rainy weekends have put a damper on attendance at fall festivals in the Lehigh Valley.
